


Obvious

by alrightginger



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, James as Chat Noir, Lily as Ladybug, Miraculous Ladybug AU, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27889675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alrightginger/pseuds/alrightginger
Summary: James’ mouth dropped open. She had a crush on him. Lily Evans had a crush on him. This was great. This was everything he ever dreamed of. This was… wait a second. Why was she taking down the photos of him if she had a crush on him? Where was the shrine she built for him? Marichat AU.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 13
Kudos: 60





	Obvious

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt: you're really hot, shame about the personality.

James slunk down, the claws to his cat gloves clicking against the aluminum as he balanced on the balcony railing. His ears were pinned flat against his head, and his tail lashed around wildly.

Where was she? 

The Akuma attack had been over with nearly an hour ago, but Lily still wasn’t home. 

James was starting to become worried, considering how hard of a hit Lily had taken during this particular Akuma battle. Lily, as Ladybug of course, had insisted that she was fine. That her ladybugs had managed to take away any lasting damage, but James had still seen the way she clutched at her head when she thought he wasn’t looking. He had noticed the way she didn’t land quite right when they met at their meeting spot, and the way slightly wonky way in which she swung away on her yo-yo afterwards. 

She had told him not to worry, which was pointless. All James did was worry over her. It was practically his job as her partner to worry over her. 

Didn’t she know this?

Didn’t she know she was all he practically thought about?

He snorted, blinking slowly. 

He wasn’t even sure how he was even going to explain his presence at her house when she finally did show up. Lily didn’t know James had found out she was Ladybug. She didn’t want either of them to know the other person’s civilian form, and had taken to being annoyingly stubborn about it. 

_ “If you knew who I was underneath this,”  _ Lily had told him once, when they had first started the superhero gig,  _ “you wouldn’t be able to look at me the same. You’d be disappointed.” _

He wished more than anything that he could tell her that she was wrong. That he was positively elated that Lily and Ladybug were the same person. That, once he saw who was behind the mask, it all made sense. He couldn’t picture anyone else as Ladybug now. 

He couldn’t picture a better person to be his partner. 

But he knew Lily wouldn't be thrilled that he knew. She would wilt in on herself, because she lacked confidence as Lily that the Ladybug mask seemed to give her. 

It wasn’t as if he found out Lily was Ladybug on purpose. It had been a poorly timed transformation drop on her part, and he had been so dumbstruck that he just wasn’t sure how to even bring it up. So much time had passed though that he still wasn’t sure how to address the matter. 

She would probably be furious with him for knowing for so long and keeping it from her. 

He didn’t want to lose her. 

“Chat Noir?”

James’ cat ear twitched first towards the voice before he turned his head downward at the street. Lily was standing there looking up at him, a convenience store bag clutched in her hand. She looked confused to see him, but not displeased. 

“There you are  _ purrincess,”  _ he called to her, his ears standing back up. He instantly felt his body relax. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Give me a minute, and I’ll be right up,” she called. “And get down from there! The last thing I need is Mary catching you on my balcony at night, and posting pictures to her Ladyblog.”

James grinned, fanged and smug, but did as he was told. A moment later, Lily appeared by the window, undoing the latch so he could slide in. He looked around, noticing a distinct lack of his favorite decor. 

“You took down your James Potter magazine photos,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. He had visited her room as Chat a few times and as James a few times. Whenever he showed up as Chat, it was like walking into a shrine of himself. He had always enjoyed that. 

It did awful things to his ego. 

“Yeah,” Lily sighed, dropping the bag and slumping into her computer chair. She produced a bottle of pain medicine, and James crossed his arms, eyebrows shooting up. He knew she was feeling poorly.The liar. “Seemed kind of silly.”

James blinked for a moment, momentarily sidetracked from the fact she kept how badly she was feeling from him to keep up with the conversation. 

“What seems silly?”

“My crush,” Lily said, looking at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “On James.”

Oh. 

_ Oh.  _

_ Oh, oh, oh.  _

James’ mouth dropped open. She had a crush on him.  _ Lily Evans had a crush on him.  _ This was great. This was everything he ever dreamed of. This was… wait a second. _ Why was she taking down the photos of him if she had a crush on him? Where was the shrine she built for him? _

“You don’t have a crush on him anymore?”

Lily looked down at the floor instead of meeting his eyes, the toe of one of her Converses making her spin in her computer chair back and forth. 

“Oh, I do. But it’s just...nothing’s going to happen with it, you know? He doesn’t even notice me really.”

“He notices you,” James argued almost aggressively before realizing what he was saying. “I mean...I’m sure that he does. Why wouldn’t he?”

“Because I’m  _ me,”  _ Lily elaborated as if that made any sense. It didn’t. Not to James. “I’m clumsy and a bit of a mess. Last week I spilled my soda all over the front of his shirt.”

“I’m sure he thought it was funny.”

He did think it was rather amusing, actually, but he couldn’t explain that to Lily as Chat. It gave him an excuse to go home and change instead of having to go to another modeling shoot. 

It had been his first afternoon off in a while. At least one that wasn’t Akuma based. 

“His best friend definitely thought it was funny. Black made fun of me for the rest of the day,” Lily said, groaning and dropping her head into her hands. “I almost cried when it happened.”

“Hey now,” James said, crouching down in front of her. She peaked at him from behind her fingers. “That’s nothing to get upset about. I promise you, he probably didn’t even care.”

“It’s not -- it’s not just that,” Lily said, allowing James to take her hands in his own. He made sure not to press the tips of his claws into her skin. 

“What is it then, Princess?”

“I can’t even  _ talk  _ to him,” she said, her voice wavering. “Everytime I try, I just turn into this sputtering mess. He probably thinks I still hate him from that one time I called him a toerag when I thought he put gum in my seat.”

“Gum…”

“It’s a long story,” Lily said, shooing it away with her hand as if it would take too long to explain. As if he didn’t know that Sirius had placed gum in her chair years ago as a childish prank, thinking it would be Snape’s seat. As if he didn’t remember the berating she gave them both. As if he hadn’t fallen in love with her during that exact moment. 

James smiled.

“He doesn't think you hate him.”

Lily swiped at her eyes, laughing. Oh  _ no. _ James could not take her crying. Not as his Lady and not as his Princess. He reached up to brush a tear away with his thumb. 

“You sound so sure.”

“I find that I’m right about most things,” James said, brushing another tear away. Lily leaned into his touch, and James felt himself thrill. 

“Silly stray,” Lily sighed, eyes fluttering shut. “Don’t you have somewhere more important to be right now than here with me? A home, maybe, that you need to crawl back to.”

“Nothing is more important to me right now than being here.”

“Hmm,” Lily hummed. James could feel the weight of her exhaustion underneath his claws. “I don’t know why you’re here, Chat Noir, but I’m glad you are.”

James smirked. “Is that a confession of love, Lily Evans?”

“It’s a confession of tolerance,” Lily corrected, smiling. “Nothing more.”

James laughed, careful to keep the volume of it down for her aching head. “That's right, you love James Potter.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed at him. He’s seen her look that way at many an Akuma. 

“Don’t tease me. It’s not nice.”

“I’m not teasing. Merely commenting on the obvious.”

“Obvious to everyone but him, you mean.”

James grins at the irony of what Lily just said even though he knows this will further add to her list of reasons to kill him when she finds out that he knows she’s Ladybug and he is...well, the boy she has a crush on. 

“Maybe you should do something about it,” James said, standing. He propped a hand on his hip, letting his confidence in his half brained idea get to him. “Maybe you should do something to make it  _ more  _ obvious.”

“Yeah?” Lily questioned, looking doubtful. “Like what?”

“First, I think you should take your medicine for your headache,” James said, grabbing the bottle of water from her bag and handing it to her. 

Lily took it slowly, raising her eyebrows. “How did you know I have a headache?”

“I told you, I’m right about most things,” James said. He knew it was only the fact that she was swallowing her pills that she didn’t argue. “Second, I think you should ask him out.”

Lily choked a little, thumping herself on the chest. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“Because -- because he’s  _ James Potter!  _ How am I supposed to ask him out if I can’t even talk to him?”

“You need to stop thinking about him about him like a person on a magazine cover, and start thinking of him like he’s your friend. Start thinking of him like he’s me. Start  _ talking _ to him like he’s me.”

“Like he’s you,” Lily repeated, snorting. “I should start talking to my crush like I talk to  _ you.” _

“Yeah, I mean,” James started, running a hand through his hair, careful not to flatten his ears. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are,” Lily said. “I just can’t imagine calling him a stray or asking him if he has fleas.”

James laughed.

_ You really don’t have a clue, do you? _

“Maybe he does have fleas. You don’t know that for certain.” 

_ “James Potter does not have fleas!”  _

James held his clawed hands up in surrender, grinning. He resisted the itch behind his left ear for good measure. 

“Okay, okay. I guess you would know better than me. I hardly know the guy, after all. Now, are you going to ask him out or not?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, biting her lower lip. “What happens if I ask him out and he says no? I’ll be humiliated.” 

“He’s not going to say no, but if he does, you can always go out with me instead.”

“You’re joking.” 

“I’m absolutely not. I’ll go out with you, Evans.” 

Lily snorted, shaking her head. 

“Don’t you love Ladybug?” she asked. “Plus, you’re not exactly my type.” 

“How am I not your type?” James asked, ignoring her Ladybug comment and gesturing at himself.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Lily said teasingly. “You’re really hot, shame about the personality.”

James’ jaw dropped. The absolute  _ nerve  _ on this one. 

_ “What’s wrong with my personality?”  _

Lily laughed, wincing a second later and clutching her head. She peered at him with one eye shut. 

“I’m only joking, you know. I adore your personality. Don’t ever change, please.” 

James felt the hair on the back of his neck settle. Lily adored something about him. Something about him as Chat. She adored both sides, she just didn’t know it yet. 

“Ask him out,” James said again. “I’ll give you a week.”

“You’re putting a time limit on this?” 

“Of course. If I don’t, you’ll never do it. That poor boy could be hopelessly pining for you to make the first move.”

Lily gave him an unconvinced look. “James Potter is  _ not _ pining over me.”

“You never know unless you  _ ask,”  _ James sang. “Unless you’re too scared --”

“Fine,” Lily agreed, cutting him off and standing. She looked exhausted. James resisted the urge to nuzzle his head against her own for comfort. “I’ll do it, but if it comes back to bite me --”

“It won’t,” James said. Feeling rather brave, he leaned in, placing a kiss to her forehead. “Now, get some rest, Princess. You don’t want to be asking out James Potter with a splitting headache.”

Lily stared at him with wide blown eyes for a moment before smiling at him. James watched as her features all shifted and softened into her smile. It was one of his favorite things about her, how she smiled with her whole body. 

The next second she wrapped her arms around him, the top of her head resting underneath the bell of his suit. She sighed, sinking into him. 

“Goodnight, Chat Noir.”

James smiled, soft and content. His own arms wound around her, and he hoped he would get the chance to do this again as James soon. 

“Goodnight, Lily Evans.”

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr if you have a prompt you'd like to share! Don't forget to leave a comment!


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